A computer avatar is a personalized graphic file or a rendering of personalized graphic files within a geometric frame that represents a computer user. There are basically two types of avatars: those used at websites, such as on Web exchange boards, and those used in gaming and virtual worlds. While Web users typically have two-dimensional graphic files as avatars, in virtual worlds, the avatar is typically a three-dimensional rendering of multiple graphic files layered on a geometric frame with controllable parts. A virtual world is an animated three-dimensional world created with computer-graphics imagery (CGI) and other rendering software. One of the hallmarks of a virtual world is that a user can interact within the environment by virtue of an avatar, or a computerized character that represents the user. The avatar manipulates and interacts with objects in the virtual world typically by mouse movements and keystrokes issued by the user. In simple terms, the avatar is a remote controlled character or proxy of the user. Avatars in a virtual world or virtual universe (VU) allow for a wide range of business and social experiences, and such experiences are becoming more important as business and social transactions are becoming common in VUs. In fact, the characteristics of an avatar play important social, business, and other related roles in VUs, such as a Second Life® virtual world. (Second Life is a registered trademark of Linden Research, Inc., commonly referred to as Linden Lab.) Second Life is a privately owned three-dimensional (3-D) virtual world, made publicly available in 2003 by Linden Lab, and is created entirely by its membership. Members assume an identity and take up residence in Second Life, creating a customized avatar or personage to represent themselves. The avatar moves about in the virtual world using mouse control and intuitive keyboard buttons. The Second Life client program provides users (referred to as residents) with tools to view, navigate, and modify the virtual world and participate in its virtual economy. Social and business interactions are important in Second Life, and these interactions include resident interactions in both personal and business meetings.
As the population of VUs increases, and as the density and intensity of personal activities and commercial transactions increase, greater emphasis will be placed on advertising. Just as in the real world, innovative and intrusive advertising activities will be launched and widely distributed. Unlike the real world, advertising in VUs is much less constrained by the limiting laws of physics and economics. Surprising new advertising campaigns and mechanisms may be deployed. One advertising mechanism marries unsolicited personal messaging (“spam”) with the concept of automated computer controlled advertising avatars that roam around the VU looking to communicate with potential human-controlled avatars.
In some systems, advertisement avatars are automated. However, automated avatars can create problems within a VU if abused, much the same as spam email can cause problems in an email communication system, a.k.a., “avatar-based VU spam”. Avatar-based VU spam has the potential to literally impede or block a user's motion in a VU, has the potential to impede lifelike transactions (e.g., business, romance) to devalue a user's virtual property and to block the avatar's line of sight.
Therefore, there exists a need for a solution that solves at least one of the deficiencies of the related art.